Good morning all!
I'm running a bit late on this, but here we go: The 2020 New Year's Resolution Report Card!
This won't be pretty.
1) Less focus on steps, more focus on active minutes.
So last year I wanted to up my daily steps to 12,000. And I wound up tearing a tendon in my foot. So this year, it's going to be less about getting steps every day and more about being active. And no, I don't mean I'm just going to spend an hour shaking my left wrist so I get active minutes while I'm sitting in a chair. (I've done that. You really feel dirty the first couple times you do it. Also, your left arms starts to ache a lot.) This year, yes, I will still have a step goal of 10,000 a day, but I'm also going to look at alternative exercises. It won't just be about the treadmill. I've got Wii Fit. I've got a punching bag and free weights. Let's get some upper body work done! Less stress on the feet.
2020 Reality: I did some of this, but ultimately I'm still about the steps and that hasn't helped me much. So...yeah. Gotta figure something else out. Grade: C-
2) Less bread all around!
One of the things I did last year was give up bread and any bread products (anything I would spread butter on) up for Lent. That actually had a really good effect on a number of blood tests I had done this year. But, in the last few months, I find myself eating more bread and crackers and the like. Now, I'm not positive it's the bread, it might be the butter as well, but either way, for 2020 my goal is the really make eating bread a rare thing as opposed to something I do every day.
2020 Reality: BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA Grade: F
3) Accept the gift
One of the things I put on my birthday/Christmas wish list to my family was that they get me a cleaning service so that I had time and energy to write more. Well, hubby didn't hire anyone, he took on many of the household chores himself. (He already did all the vacuuming and made sure we have clean sheets.) I, however, have a difficult time accepting this gift and taking time to write. Instead, I still allow household chores to suck up my energy. I need, in 2020, to make writing a real priority and accept that I've married a prince who is being super helpful!
2020 Reality: It actually took me until my birthday in November this year, when I took a week off of work to write and just let Hubby take over many of the household duties, but I did it. The end result is that I managed to get the first draft of a new novel done and I'm going to be releasing my 16th book at some point in the summer. Grade: B
4) Stop using the credit cards!
This is a big one. My entire adult life I've struggled with credit card debt. It's shocking, really, how normal I seem until you see my balances. But this year, while I'm not going to get them all paid off, my goal is to stop using them until I get them under control! If I'm successful, this will have a profound effect on my weight as well, since I probably won't be eating nearly as much. This is probably going to be the hardest one to keep, especially at first, since I'm in that nasty cycle of using credit to pay for stuff because I don't have cash because I'm paying credit card bills.
2020 Reality: I was actually doing really well...until I started Christmas shopping...in July. Not going to stores (you know, because COVID) I spent entirely too much time online shopping. So yeah...not an entire success. Grade: C
5) Let go. Let God.
The past year or two I've had a real spiritual crisis. Those of you who know me well know where I struggle, especially when it comes to family. I inherited my mother's ability to worry myself into sickness. (Not her great metabolism, no. Her ability to worry, that I get.) Now, as we close out 2019, I feel like some of the issues contributing to my lack of or dormant faith are lifting. I see some major changes in that direction in 2020. It's my hope that I learn to stop stressing and let God work in His time. (Last year I resolved to be more patient. That didn't quite work. So we're going with "let's worry less." Maybe if I'm less worried I'll be less cranky.) This will be a struggle because I've been a "fixer" in addition to being a worrier. I've found there are some things I simply cannot fix, and I'm pretty sure it's because God, in His infinite sense of humor, decided it was time for me to learn that lesson. So, more prayer.
2020 Reality: Believe it or not, this actually happened to some extent. Thanks in very large part to a change in churches and a massive breakthrough in therapy, I was able to rediscover the peacefulness of prayer. Thanks in large part to COVID, I was also able to rediscover the pure joy of helping others in super practical ways. I still worry. I'm still impatient. But in 2020 my faith in God's power in all things
woke up. Grade: A-
So there you go. 2020 was not a complete failure, but it was hardly my best year. What will 2021 bring? No one really knows for certain. What will my resolutions be?
Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment